Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
J&J Hit with $1 Billion Verdict in Hip Implant Product Liability Case
Dec 2 2016 // Johnson & Johnson was ordered by a Texas jury to pay more than $1 billion to patients who claimed the company hid flaws in its Pinnacle artificial hips that had to be surgically removed, in J&J’s second loss...
Texas Reports First Case of Locally Transmitted Zika
Nov 30 2016 // Texas on Nov. 28 reported its first case of Zika virus that likely came from a mosquito bite within the state. Florida is the only other state in the U.S. with locally spread Zika. Health officials say that the woman who...
Increased Border Security in Texas Yields Bumper Crop of Traffic Tickets
Nov 29 2016 // A new border security approach promoted by the Texas Department of Public Safety has yielded at least one result: a bumper crop of traffic tickets. Traffic stops in Starr and Hidalgo counties on the Texas-Mexico border...
Texas Surplus Lines Stamping Office Adds DiLoreto
Nov 29 2016 // The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLSOT) has appointed Maegan DiLoreto as communications and training coordinator. DiLoreto previously worked as a copy editor and page designer for newspapers in both Alabama and...
4,000 Businesses Earn $3M in Texas Mutual Early Qualifier Dividends
Nov 29 2016 // Texas Mutual Insurance Co. has paid more than $3 million in early qualifier dividends to approximately 4,000 newer policyholders across the state. The payout is the final component of the workers’ compensation...
Survivor of Deadly Texas Train Wreck Sues BNSF Railway
Nov 28 2016 // The lone survivor of a head-on crash between two freight trains in the Texas Panhandle has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $1 million in damages. The Amarillo Globe-News reported that Derek Schilling filed the lawsuit...
Judge Blocks Obama’s Overtime Pay Raise for White Collar Workers
Nov 23 2016 // An Obama administration policy that would have given more white-collar workers overtime starting Dec. 1 was blocked nationwide by a federal judge in Texas. The decision Tuesday is a victory for 21 states and dozens of...
Rejecting Science, Texas Still Denies Fracking Link to Quakes
Nov 22 2016 // A white Chevy Suburban with “Railroad Commission of Texas” emblazoned on its side rolled north on Interstate 35. Behind the wheel sat Milton Rister, the commission’s director. Trim and balding, Rister was...
Exxon Climate Judge Orders ‘Unprecedented’ Questioning
Nov 21 2016 // A federal judge in Texas is giving Exxon Mobil Corp. an unprecedented chance to question a state law-enforcement officer who is investigating whether the energy company hid damaging data about climate change from...
Baylor Names Nitsche Group Medium Family Business of the Year
Nov 18 2016 // Giddings, Texas-based independent insurance agency, Nitsche Group, has been named the 2016 Medium Family Business of the Year by Baylor University’s Institute for Family Business. The Family Business of the Year...
Brinson Elected President of Texas Surplus Lines Association
Nov 17 2016 // Teri Brinson, executive vice president of M.D. Jensvold & Co. Inc. in Houston, has been elected president of the Texas Surplus Lines Association (TSLA). Brinson was installed at TSLA’s 61st Annual Meeting held...
Velocity Risk to Write Texas Coastal Wind-Only Homeowners Policies
Nov 16 2016 // Nashville, Tenn.-based Velocity Risk Underwriters announced it is offering coastal wind-only homeowners insurance policies for customers that may otherwise be insured in the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association...
Texas Workers’ Comp Division: State’s Rates Among Nation’s Lowest
Nov 15 2016 // Texas has some of the nation’s most affordable workers’ compensation coverage, according to a 2016 study, which found that the Lone Star State had the 10th lowest rates among all states, the Texas Division of...
Texas DOT: Hazardous Chemical Routes in Houston Unchanged in 20 Years
Nov 15 2016 // Texas Department of Transportation records show no highway routes designated for transport of hazardous chemicals in the Houston area have been updated over the past 20 years and government officials appear befuddled over...
Exxon Adds New York to Suit in Bid to Stop Climate Change Probe
Nov 14 2016 // Exxon Mobil Corp. sued New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to stop his investigation into what the company knew about climate change. The oil giant on Thursday revised a lawsuit it filed in June against...
TWIA: Agents Approve 18K Policies for Transfer to Depopulation Program
Nov 10 2016 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) announced the passage of an important milestone in its Assumption Reinsurance Depopulation Program (Assumption program): agents have approved 18,000 policies for possible...
Medical Care Readily Accessible for Injured Employees in Texas, Study Shows
Nov 9 2016 // Access to medical care for injured workers has greatly improved in Texas over the past 15 years, a study commissioned by the Texas Department of Insurance shows. A September 2016 study by TDI’s Research and...
1.8 Million Western U.S. Homes at Extreme or High Wildfire Risk, Report Shows
Nov 7 2016 // Data provider CoreLogic’s new annual Wildfire Risk report designates 1.8 million single-family homes across 13 Western states as being at “Extreme” or “High” risk of wildfire damage,...
Texas Commissioner Approves Rate Changes for Auto Insurance Plan
Nov 4 2016 // Texas Insurance Commissioner David Mattax has approved rate changes for private passenger and commercial automobile insurance provided through the Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association (TAIPA), which is the...
Texas Stamping Office Updates Surplus Lines Eligible Insurer List
Nov 4 2016 // The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLSOT) reported the following changes to the eligible insurer list. Alien insurers effective 10/1/2016 include the following: The Hanover Atlantic Insurance Company LTD. Helvetia...
